X-radiograph(s) of "Apollo and Marsyas" 

Editor: Here we have an X-radiograph of "Apollo and Marsyas" after Perugino. It reveals the underpainting. What can we understand about the artistic process from this image? Curator: It’s fascinating to see the layers of labor and material choices laid bare. How does the artist's initial design, visible through the radiograph, compare to the final painted surface and what does that tell us about the consumption of art then? Editor: I see what appears to be changes in composition. Curator: Exactly. It highlights the iterative nature of creation, the artist wrestling with the materials to convey meaning. It also challenges the idea of the artist as solely an individual genius, but as a worker engaged in a material process shaped by social and economic forces. Editor: It’s interesting to consider the making of art from this point of view. Curator: Yes, it forces us to consider the art object as a product of its time.